Description
(offered previously as “White Striped “)
(the plain species is syn. miserum, nakaianum, periballanthus, platyphyllum)
The typical plant, Polygonatum involucratum is a fascinating species with a pair of leaf-like bracts (the involucres) set behind each flower (or flower pairs in larger plants). These little tufts which Tony Avent terms ‘green hankies’, give the flowers of this species a really distinctive appearance.
The plant makes 20-40 cm tall arching stems clothed with 10 cm long leaves arranged alternately along them and paired flowers held on branched peduncles, hanging below. The flowers are urn-shaped and are quite substantial, being wide for their 2 cm length and are white, tipped with green. Easily grown in a light woodland soil.
Wide ranging and variable across Japan, Korea, northern China and Siberia, in mountain woods and meadows. This may be the same species as Polygonatum cryptanthum.
The clone offered, Shiro Shima Fu, is very distinctive and was selected in Japan for its prominent pattern of many, thin, white stripes which run along the length of the leaf, sometimes fusing with each other.
